The prior art describes various devices based on the APA technology.
The closest to the claimed device as to the combination of essential features is the arrangement of a two-face phased array according to the U.S. Pat. No. 3,648,284 A published on Jul. 3, 1972 and comprising two-dimensional two-face phased arrays consisting of transmit-receive modules (TRM), with the capability to commutate to two radiating elements with one transmitter and two receivers that simultaneously radiate and receive in opposite directions.
Drawbacks of said technical solution are the need to use three two-face phased arrays to provide all-around looking which rises in the cost of the radar system, a low scanning rate which results in a wide blind area in the upper part of the hemisphere, the impossibility to form fully independent beams in opposite directions due to the use of a unique phase shifter in a TRM which significantly decreases the energy potential and the capability of use in radar systems and practically completely prevents their use in communications systems, the absence of capability to use different signal coding in opposite directions which reduces noise immunity in case of simultaneous transmitting and receiving, low efficiency of communications systems due to the use of only two-dimensional arrays, difficulty of mounting and presence of shaded sectors due to the lack of two-side arrays shift with regard to each other in the horizontal and/or vertical plane.